KUALA LUMPUR: Award-winning director Edmund Yeo's new film Malu will be screened in Japan next month.
Yeo, the first Malaysian to win Best Director at the Tokyo International Film Festival (TIFF) 2017 for his film Aqerah has been invited to premiere Malu at the 33rd TIFF. His film will be screened in 10 cinemas in Tokyo, Fukuoka and Osaka.
"I'm delighted that TIFF has strongly supported me all these years beginning with Aqerah and a documentary on the late filmmaker Yasmin Ahmad," he said in a news report yesterday.
"They've been very supportive of Malu and even set up a website for the film in Japanese."
Yeo added that Malu involved Malaysian and Japanese crew, and was funded by co-producer and actress MayJune Tan and himself.
"There are also two Japanese producers Mashiro Handa and Hiroto Ogi, and a Japanese executive producer Yoshito Oyama."
Yeo, who studied in Japan 12 years ago, said that he took a year to film the RM1 million Malu, and 40 per cent of its scenes were shot in Japan.
"It tells the story of two close friends Hong and Lan who were separated during their pre-teens, but were reunited in adulthood. They are played by MayJune and Sherlyn Seo respectively," said Yeo.
Yeo went to Japan twice in 2018 to film a winter scene in Hokkaido, and waited a few months to film an autumn scene in Yokohama. Malu was completed last year.
"It was a great experience working with the Japanese producers. They were very meticulous and had an eye for detail when it came to reviewing my script. Everybody in the crew worked very hard and they were very efficient."
Yeo said that he had decided to screen Malu on a streaming service, because of the Covid-19 pandemic. However, if things improved it might be shown in Malaysian cinemas.